Higher Ground

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Higher Ground album cover
Album Information

Total Tracks: 9   Total Length: 56:11

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Who Knew?

kenyakaye

For those of you not hip to T.S. other than his parental lineage, you should do some study. I am impressed with this piece because it features many young chops that are featured behind many jazz greats that you may know, but he blends them to sound like a band of jazz greats. Each contributes their individual greatness to the greater good of the group. It is amazing. I am really enthralled with Miles Griffith and Helen Sung. What a great find!

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They Say All Music Guide

Drummer T.S. Monk, whose original background was in R&B, recorded a series of high-quality hard bop releases with his sextet in the 1990s, plus tributes to his father, Thelonious Monk. Higher Ground, his initial release for his Thelonious label, is a bit different. He still utilizes a combo (in this case a septet with percussion) and some of the numbers are hard bop (most notably Kenny Dorham’s cooking blues “Philly Twist”), but the music is also open to funk, R&B, and more modern jazz styles. Despite the diversity, the performances stay at a consistently high level, with fine solos from all the principals. Guest singer Miles Griffith takes a particularly crazy scat vocal on Cedar Walton’s “Mosaic.” All in all, Higher Ground finds T.S. Monk staking out his own musical territory emphasizing new music over tributes. It is well worth checking out. – Scott Yanow

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